Welcome to Litsy!

Today‘s author spotlight: Sappho! She is a poet from Greece‘s Archaic period (750-490 BC). She hailed from Lesbos and was exiled to Sicily at one point. She was extremely prolific, esteemed, and influential, writing over 10,000 lines of poetry, mostly lost, and named “The Tenth Muse” and “The Poetess”. The words sapphic and lesbian come from her and her island in regards to her well-known romantic love for women. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s spotlight is on Kōbō Abe, pen name of Kimifusa Abe! He‘s often been compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal and nightmarish takes on contemporary society. He was born in Tokyo in 1924 and died there in 1993 at 68. His childhood was spent in Manchuria. He was deeply into the arts, and married an artist & fellow playwright. He was expelled from the Japanese Communist Party. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Lorraine Hansberry! Born in Chicago in 1930, she passed away from cancer in NYC at 34. The tagged play made her the first African-American playwright on Broadway; she became the youngest one and only fifth woman to win the prestigious NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. She inspired Nina Simone‘s “To Be Young, Gifted, and Black”. James Baldwin set up a meeting between her & RFK. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Liane Moriarty! The 53-year-old was born in Sydney, Australia. She lives there with her husband, a former farmer, and 2 kids. Her younger sister, Jaclyn, is also an author. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as a freelance copywriter. She‘s the first Australian author to top the NYT bestseller list, with the tagged book. She never re-reads her own books after writing them. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: David Foster Wallace! Born in Ithaca, NY, he died in 2008 at 46 in Claremont, CA, from suicide after struggling with depression 😔. He was the first Roy E. Disney English and creative writing professor at Pomona College. He received numerous awards, including the Pulitzer, and TIME ranked “Infinite Jest” as one of the
English language‘s 100 best novels between 1923 and 2005. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Stephen (Edwin) King! The 72-year-old was born in Portland, Maine. He and his brother were raised by their single mother. He has been dubbed the King of Horror. He has written over 65 books and 200 short stories. His wife of 48 years, Tabitha, and two sons, Joe Hill and Owen, have also written books. He has a daughter, Naomi, who is a Unitarian minister and gay rights advocate. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: George Eliot! George Eliot was the pen name of Mary Ann Evans, circumventing the stereotype of women writing only light romances. Born in England in 1819, she died at 61 in London. She is considered one of Victorian Literature‘s titans. She wrote 7 novels, known for their realism; some consider Middlemarch the English language‘s greatest novel! She‘s buried at London‘s Highgate Cemetery. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Robert Louis Stevenson! Born today in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850, he died at 44. He married in San Francisco & had no children together. He was good friends with Hawaii‘s King Kalākaua. He was a much-loved advocate of the Samoan people, & his adopted Samoan name was Tusitala, or “Teller of Tales”. They buried him atop Mt. Vaea. He was excluded from literary canon until recent decades. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Vikram Seth! The 67-year-old was born in Calcutta, India. He studied at Oxford & Stanford. He was commissioned by the English National Opera to write a Greek myth-based libretto, which was first performed in 1994. He received a Q9.4 mil advance for his novel “Two Lives”, far more than the 6a8,000 for “A Suitable Boy”. He lives in poet George Herbert‘s former home. He is gay & an activist. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow

Today‘s author spotlight: Franz Kafka! Born in Prague in 1883, he died at 40 in Austria from tuberculosis. His body of work is so influential, that the term “Kafkaesque” has been coined to describe surreal, disorienting complexity. Though engaged several times, he never married. He wrote in his spare time while working in insurance. Much of his work was published posthumously rather than being burned as he wanted. #AuthorPotpourri #TheMoreYouKnow